In the news...

Headlines – January 13, 2014

News:

The U.S. military secretly deployed a small number of trainers and advisers to Somalia in October, the first time regular troops have been stationed in the war-ravaged country since 1993, when two helicopters were shot down and 18 Americans killed in the “Black Hawk Down” disaster.

World powers and Iran agreed to begin implementing a pact to curb Tehran’s nuclear program on Jan. 20, setting the stage for six months of diplomacy intended to end Tehran’s atomic weapons threat, officials said.

Business:

It was 1991 when the Pentagon canceled a $4.8 billion program to build a stealth aircraft for the US Navy called the A-12, a decision prompted by fears the plane would take too long to produce and become far too expensive.

General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) is renegotiating a 2011 contract with Israel that will likely include penalties due to budget-driven cuts in the number of heavy troop carrier kits Israel agreed to buy from the firm.

Years before the company’s legendary merger with Lockheed, Martin Marietta executives were holding secret meetings in a basement, trying to imagine what the defense industry might look like in the years ahead.

Lockheed Martin’s decades of dominance as the single primary supplier for the Aegis combat system are officially over now that the company has dropped its protest of the U.S. Navy’s decision to award Raytheon a contract to build a new radar for the system.

On Jan. 6, Humvee maker AM General headed to Federal Claims Court to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Special Operations Command over its decision to award a $562 contract to General Dynamics for its Ground Mobility Vehicle 1.1 program.

If the Army can manage to keep its future budgets in line with current projections, the service will transform all nine of its Stryker brigades into the heavily armored “double V-hull” (DVH) configuration.

Senior Pentagon leaders are trying to protect vulnerable research and development funding in the fiscal 2015 budget plan, despite desires within the military services to put money toward other near-term initiatives, according to Defense Department officials and sources.

Moseley, for his part, has not released any tell-all books, but did speak recently about the issues that sparked those notorious feuds with Gates. During a talk last month hosted by the Air Force Association’s Mitchell Institute, the now retired general suggested that, in hindsight, Gates made poor equipment-buying decisions that are now coming back to haunt the U.S. military.

Navy officials say the Arctic will give the U.S. its first new ocean to police since the annexation of the Pacific Northwest in 1846. As the ice surrounding the North Pole retreats, officials say, commercial shippers will be able to eventually move goods faster between Asia and Europe. More open seas will also give energy companies greater access to offshore oil and gas in regions controlled by the U.S. and estimated by military officials to be worth $1 trillion.

Cmdr. Valerie Overstreet wanted to start a family. But her job as a Navy pilot and the fact that she and her husband, also a naval officer, were stationed in different parts of the country made it complicated.

Now that it appears cuts to U.S. defense spending won’t be removed any time soon, analysts are urging the Defense Department to start making critical strategic choices to live within its means. But while such tough decisions are increasingly necessary to ward off looming financial challenges, such as sharp increases in personnel costs, the analysts expect little to change.

Freniere said he has seen in online comments that some readers, including veterans, questioned his living situation and annual pension of more than $40,000, thinking the amount should be higher for a colonel. Freniere said he wanted to clarify that the money is compensation only for injuries he sustained while on active duty.

International:

U.S. Sen. John McCain suggested Jan. 13 sending Gen. David Petraeus, former commander of allied forces in Afghanistan, and Ryan Crocker, former ambassador to Iraq, back to the Mideast to help quell the violence spreading throughout the region.

The Italian Navy has secured funding for 10 large ships it plans to build rapidly over the next decade as the bulk of the current fleet goes out of service, the head of the Navy told Defense News in an interview.

France has signed a development and integration contract worth around €1 billion to upgrade the Dassault Aviation Rafale fighter with arms and systems, including a long-range missile, and make improvements on a targeting pod and active electronic radar, the procurement office said in a Jan. 10 statement.

After months of tough negotiations, South Korea has agreed to pay $866 million to the United States this year in their latest deal on sharing the cost of keeping American troops here, the foreign ministry said Jan. 13.

Japan’s defense minister vowed Jan. 13 to defend the country’s territory as three Chinese government ships entered disputed waters off Tokyo-controlled islands in the East China Sea, the first such incident this year.

Local military discounts

News: Israel lobbies for more missile defense funds than Obama sought - For the second consecutive year, Israeli officials have asked the U.S. Congress to add more than $300 million to President Barack Obama’s budget request for their nation’s missile-defense programs. Business: Inside one of the most intense, and unusual, Pentagon contracting wars - The much-anticipated...

Italy resumes Navy exercise amid new tensions over Libya The Italian Navy is resuming exercises in the Mediterranean Sea, including near the coast of Libya, amid concerns about rapidly deteriorating security in the North African nation. The exercise began March 2 and includes anti-submarine, anti-aircraft and anti-ship training operations. The exercise was suspended for a...

Two Boeing 702SP (small platform) satellites, the first all-electric propulsion satellites to launch, have sent initial signals from space, marking the first step toward ABS, based in Bermuda, and Eutelsat, based in Paris, being able to provide enhanced communication services to their customers. Whatís more, the satellites were launched as a conjoined stack on a...

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. and SENER, a leading Spanish engineering company, announced March 2 that they have signed a teaming agreement that promotes the use of the multi-mission Predator B® RPA to support Spain’s airborne surveillance and reconnaissance requirements. GAASI is a leading manufacturer of Remotely Piloted Aircraft systems, radars, and electro-optic and relate...

Raytheon has delivered a second Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite instrument to support the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Joint Polar Satellite System mission. The second VIIRS unit will fly ab...

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